


The Perks of being Spontaneous

by dimfse



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Band, Angst, Denver, Hiking, Hospitals, Humor, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Roommates, argument, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22374088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimfse/pseuds/dimfse
Summary: Tyler really wants to prove his best-friend/roommate that he can be spontaneous.
Relationships: Josh Dun/Tyler Joseph
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	The Perks of being Spontaneous

It all started with Brendon.

Stupid Brendon.

It all started with one of their stupid fights.

Tyler and Brendon have been best-friends for a while now. They got to know each other in college. Tyler was the introverted kid no one really noticed in the hallways and Brendon was the popular joke everybody was afraid of. They found themselves being dorm roommates and yet despite all their differences, they managed to make it work. It may have been the weirdest and most unique relationship Tyler has found himself into but five years later, he can still say with absolute certitude that Brendon is his best and only friend and the person he trusts the most in this world.

They are still roommates now. They share an apartment in the center of Denver, Colorado. They’ve always loved it here and decided to move there after living most of their lives in Columbus. Their apartment is not so big, but it’s large enough for the two of them. Not that they see each other very often anyway: Tyler is an employee in a music store located a few minutes away from their apartment and Brendon is a bartender who mostly works at night.

When Tyler comes back home from his shift, Brendon is usually already gone for his night shift and when Tyler wakes up, his best-friend is fast-asleep in his bed.

Tyler lives a quiet life. A quiet and ordinary life. He likes it that way, he likes his routine and hates it when something unexpected comes up. Everything has to be under control. Everything has to be planned and written down in his agenda at least two weeks in advance so Tyler can have the time to prepare and sort everything out. Of course, being a control freak like he is and living with his best-friend has sometimes turned out to be more difficult than he expected when he moved there.

Because Brendon is his complete opposite, always trying new things, getting himself into strange situations and planning things in the last minute.

Their different ways of apprehending things and life in general are usually never the causes of their arguments but today it is. Tyler has come back home feeling a bit irritated and on edge because one of his coworkers called in sick last minute and he had to work longer than expected. Not a big deal, if he thinks about it now, but Tyler had planned to do the dishes, tidy their apartments, go and do some groceries shopping and all his plans had been ruined because of a coworker he doesn’t even like in the first place. Not that he likes many people in the first place. 

Tyler doesn’t even know how they started arguing. All he knows is that he started complaining about his day to his best-friend and the next thing he knew, they were exchanging profanities to each other in the middle of their apartment.

“ _Dude, you always get mad over the most stupid shit, you need to fucking chill.”_

“ _I’m just being pragmatic, okay? It’s not my fault if you can’t follow a routine for one fucking day.”_

“ _Well maybe if you weren’t so uptight and frigid, I would know how to follow a routine.”_

“ _I’m not fucking uptight, okay, I just-”_

“ _Dude, you totally are! You’re a control freak, I’ve never seen someone being that repressed and manic about the slightest details. Everything needs to go according to your plans and it’s fucking tiring. Just chill. Stop overthinking every single thing and just be spontaneous for a change.”_

“ _Oh you want me to be spontaneous? Okay. I’m going to be spontaneous.” He says, storming off and coming back with his old sneakers._

“ _What are you doing?”_

“ _I’m being spontaneous.” He answers, slipping his shoes on._

“ _Dude, what are you doing? It’s late.”_

“ _No, you want me to be spontaneous so that’s what I’m going to do. See you later.”_

“ _Where the fuck are you going?”_

“ _I- I’m going hiking, okay?”_

“ _You’re going hiking?” Brendon repeats, laughing._

“ _Yes. And I’m taking your car. Now, move.”_

“ _Tyler, you’re being crazy, it’s 9pm, you’re going to get lost. You don’t even know the first thing about hik-”_

_But Tyler is already out of the apartment._

Looking back at it now, Tyler is aware it may be the most stupid idea he’s ever had in a while but he seemingly was too angry at his best-friend to think clearly. After driving during half an hour towards the Rocky Mountains and stopping at the first hiking trail he encountered, he started walking. But as his best-friend had said, he didn’t know the first thing about hiking and after a small hour, he was already slowly starting to regret his decision.

It was dark, Tyler couldn’t see a single thing, he was cold because he had been too busy proving Brendon wrong to think about bringing his coat and the soles of his old sneakers being completely ruined for a few years already, Tyler fell down, his right leg hitting a giant and sharp rock.

And here he is now, freezing, stuck on a hiking trail in complete darkness at 10:30pm, his right leg severely injured, his foot stuck between two rocks, with no way of getting back to his best-friend’s car. Tyler winces in pain and watches the blood hurtling down his leg for a few seconds. His jean is ripped at his knee and Tyler runs both of his hands through his hair, letting a sigh of desperation. He grabs his cellphone and when the message “Low battery” appears on the screen, Tyler quickly calls Brendon, his amount of stress increasing as the ringtones keep resounding in his ear, without anyone picking up.

“Hey it’s Brendon. You know what to do.”

“Brendon, god, you need to help m-”

“No battery.”

“No please, dude, don’t die on me now I need you.” Tyler says to his phone as it turns off.

“You’re going to die here.” He says to himself, looking around him, on the lookout for the slightest noise which would signal the presence of any other person other than him. “You’re going to die here, god, you’re so fucking stupid.”

During the first few minutes, Tyler tries to get up and free his foot from in-between the two rocks, but his right leg hurt too much and he’s afraid to fall over and injure his leg more than it actually is. The bleeding has stopped a bit because of how tight he presses a piece of his jeans he ripped up against the wound. He’s now in complete darkness and can’t see anything around him. He’s always been quite scared of the dark but being stuck in a hiking trail in the middle of the night is a situation he never thought he would be in one day. And that’s when it hits him.

_I’m stuck in a hiking trail in the middle of the night._

He suddenly feels his heart pounding against his chest and his body becoming numb from the cold. He tries to breathe but his throat feels so tight be cannot catch his breath, cannot grasp any air, cannot refill his lungs. His clammy hands start shaking and he tries his best to still be aware of his surroundings but all he can feel is the panic taking hold of his body and this headache making him wince in pain. He is so focused on trying to avoid the imminent anxiety attack that he doesn’t see the stranger jogging towards him.

“Dude are you okay?” The stranger says, making him jump with surprise.

“Does it seem like I’m okay?” Tyler screams back at him.

“Okay… Okay. Try to breathe, alright? Take a deep breathe. It’ll be alright, man. Don’t… Don’t overthink this.”

 _This man has no clue how to help someone with anxiety_ , Tyler thinks while closing his eye and trying to calm his breathing. Being aware that someone is right there next to him and that he’s not completely alone and desperate anymore makes it a lot easier than he expected. He runs one of his left hand through his hair and eventually looks up to the stranger who is still looking at him with a confused and sympathetic look on his face.

“Thanks.” Tyler says after a few seconds.

“What happened, man?” The stranger asks.

“Well I… I was walking and I fell. Hurt my leg, and my foot got stuck.”

Tyler watches the guy as he squats down in front of him and looks at his injured leg and the rocks keeping him from getting up. Tyler grimaces in pain when the guy lifts the ripped up part of his jeans to have a closer look of the wound. Tyler can hear him speak with a low voice but he’s too distracted by the pain to register any words. After a while, the stranger takes off his coat and places it on Tyler’s shoulders before taking off his sweater and his tee-shirt too to tie it around his leg. He eventually puts his sweater back on and smiles at him.

“You’re going to be cold.” Tyler observes.

“Yeah.” He only answers. “But you’re injured. You need it more than I do.” His eyes move to the two rocks and Tyler can swear his heart skips a beat when he sees him lower his head in defeat. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“What?” Tyler says immediately. “What’s going on?”

“I can’t save your foot. I’m gonna have to chop it up with my knife.”

“What?!” Tyler says, screaming. “No dude, just move the fucking rock! I can’t lose my leg, dude, I can’t, what the fuck are you saying, are you insane?! What do you mean chop it up, we’re not in this fucking 127 hours movie, okay, just move the fuckin-” His rambling is stopped by the stranger’s laughter and Tyler looks at him with a confused and scared expression.

“Dude I’m kidding.” The stranger says, still laughing. “I’m kidding.” He repeats, lifting the rock with his two hands and rolling it to the side, freeing his right foot.

“I’m going to fucking kill you.” Tyler says, still in shock, his heart keeps pounding against his chest.

“Sorry.” The guy says, smiling. “It was too tempting.” He adds. “Come on, let’s get you home. I’m Josh by the way.”

“Tyler”. He answers, mumbling. 

Tyler still takes his hand and lets Josh lift him up. He wraps his arm around his shoulders and lets Josh do the same to help him walk. At first, Tyler has to stop every five minutes because of the pain, his left leg giving way under the strain of his body but they eventually find a rhythm and manage to make it work.

“So what happened?” Josh asks.

“I told you. I was walking. I fell. And my foot got stuck.”

“No I mean what were you doing on a hiking trail in the middle of the night?”

“Well I… It’s a long story.”

“Well, we’ve got time. And you lost blood. You’re pretty weak, you should keep talking.”

“Well I… I was pissed because one of my coworkers called in sick so I had to do a double shift. I hate it when something unexpected comes my way, I’m the kind of guy who literally loves having a routine so when I went back home, I was tired, and pissed. Because I had all these things I had planned to do for the day and suddenly I didn’t have the time to do anything so I complained to my roommate and we got into this argument, I don’t even know how it started but I guess he was sick of… Of my tendency to control everything. I guess you can say I’m a bit of a control freak.” Tyler says, repeating Brendon’s words. “He called me uptight and… And frigid. Said I needed to chill and start being spontaneous instead. So that’s… That’s what I did.”

“That’s what you did?”

“Listen I was mad. I wasn’t thinking clearly so when he said I needed to try and be more spontaneous I just… I just wanted to prove him wrong.”

“And so you decided to go hiking?” Josh says and Tyler can hear him smile.

“Yes.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“Yes.”

“With this kind of shoes?”

“Yes.” Tyler says again, completely aware he’s making a fool of himself.

“With no coat?”

“Yes.”

“With no phone?”

“I do have a phone.” Tyler rectifies. “With no battery.” He says, lowering his head to the ground and smiling when Josh lets out a laugh.

“You’re crazy.” Josh concludes. “All of that just to prove him wrong?” Josh asks, tightening his embrace when Tyler’s left foot slips against the soil.

“Yeah. I can be pretty stubborn when I want to.” He says, making Josh laugh again.

“You’re aware it’s one of the most difficult trails out there?”

“Not really.” Tyler says. “I wasn’t very focused on where I was going.” He admits. “I could ask you the same thing, you know. What were you doing here in the middle of the night?"

“Hiking.” He simply answers. “I’m a nature photographer.” He adds, showing him his camera hanging around his neck. “I often come around here at night to take pictures.”

“Really?” Tyler asks, distrustful.

“No I’m a serial killer and you’re my next victim.” Josh says. “Yes, really.” He adds, smiling.

Tyler doesn’t say anything, he just smiles back at him and keeps walking as best as he can. After a few minutes, he can see the end of the trail and his leg and foot hurt so much Josh is pretty much carrying him at this point. He helps him get in the car and close the door behind him, walking around the car to sit down on the driver’s seat.

“Come on. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

“You don’t have to.” Tyler says.

“Yeah, you totally look like you can drive yourself to the nearest hospital.” Josh answers sarcastically. “It’s only a 20 minutes drive, dude, don’t worry.”

Tyler looks down at his watch and bites his lower lip when he sees it’s already past 1am. He knows Brendon. They’ve been friends for almost six years now and he knows he must be freaking out right now, and calling every single one of his friends and co-workers to have a clue where his best-friend is. Maybe he even took his car and drove around, hoping to see him walking somewhere near the city. Brendon means well. He always does. And as much as he gets on his nerves sometimes, he also knows there’s a lot of truth in what he said. He hates to admit it to himself but he is a bit uptight and he could definitely use some of Brendon’s spontaneity from times to times.

“Here.” Josh says, handing him his phone as though he can read his mind. “Text your friend. Tell him you’re fine.”

“I can’t, I don’t know his number by heart.” Tyler says. “But thanks.”

“Can’t you call someone who can warn him? Friends? Your parents or something?”

“I’m not on speaking terms with my parents anymore. Or anyone in my family really. Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” Josh only says, giving him a warm smile. “What’s his name?”

“Brendon.” Tyler says, grateful to him from trying to distract him from the pain.

“How long have you been friend with him?”

“Five years. Nearly six.”

“You guys must be close.”

“Yeah, we are. We even used to date for a while.”

“What happened?”

“Well let’s just say we’re better off as friends.” Tyler answers, laughing, but winces again when a sharp pain goes through his leg.

“Are you okay?” Josh asks, speeding up. “We’re nearly there.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine. I’m not at death’s door, you know.”

It does hurt and Josh’s tee shirt is red from all the bleeding but Tyler already broke his leg when he was a kid and he remembers the pain being a lot more intense than what he’s going through right now. He is still weak from all the walking and he barely hears Josh parking his car next to the hospital and dragging him in the emergency service. He can hear people talking around him and become agitated but his vision is blurry and Tyler cannot really perceive anyone. He knows one of them is Josh. He recognizes his voice and he catches sight of his blue sweater. Others must be nurses and doctors and Tyler can barely hear a few words such as “he fell”, “hurt his leg” and “minor fracture” before passing out.

When he wakes up, he’s lying down on a hospital bed, in a small room, his leg in a plaster cast. He looks around him and can see Josh sitting down on a chair, looking at him.

“What happened?” Tyler asks with a sleepy voice.

“You passed out. Then you woke up but you were being pretty delusional. It was a pretty bad injury. They thought it was broken at first but then you’ve had an x-ray. I wasn’t allowed in the room but they told me it wasn’t as serious as they thought it would be. You only have a minor fracture. They put a cast on your leg and you have to wear it for at least one month and a half. You’re free to go, now.”

“What time is it?”

“Nearly 3am.”

“And you’re still here?” Tyler asks, confused.

“Of course I am, dude, you need someone to get you home, right?” Josh says, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Here, they gave me crutches for you.”

Tyler slowly follows Josh out of his hospital’s bedroom with the help of his crutches, and as he listens to the last advice and recommendations of his doctor, his mind already starts to overthink every little thing this man is saying. _Here,_ _this is a four weeks sicks leave. You should try and get some rest for the first few days. Keep your cast out of the water._ _Also, w_ _iggle your toes as much as you can to help with circulation._

The doctor has so many recommendations and Tyler already starts to feel a bit fainthearted. This wasn’t a situation he was ready to face, and if only he hadn’t been so stubborn just to prove his best-friend wrong, he wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences right now. Josh seems to feel his apprehension because Tyler can feel his hand tracing small patterns on his back, making him a bit more relaxed.

The doctor makes him sign a form. Tyler knows he should probably read it or at least pretend to but he’s too tired to think clearly and he just wants to go back home and sleep.

“Tyler?” Josh asks.

“What? Sorry, I… I was somewhere else.”

“No worries. I just wanted to know where you lived?”

“Uh I live a bit far. The other side of the city.”

“You can crash at my place tonight if you want. It’s only a ten minutes drive.”

“I don’t want to be a bother, Josh, you’ve already done so much.”

“It’s fine, dude. And I don’t really have it in me to drive for a long time anyway. Really, you would do me a favor.”

“Okay.” Tyler says, smiling. “Lead the way, then.”

Once inside Josh’s apartment, Tyler is taken aback by how big it is. He had expected a small flat similar to the one he shares with Brendon but as he takes a few steps inside, he opens his eyes wide and looks around him with disbelief. The living-room is huge and is probably the size of his and Brendon’s room reunited. The kitchen is a bit smaller but he doesn’t need to look twice to see it’s probably thrice the size of the ridiculously small one located right next to his bedroom. The surface area is so much bigger than any apartment he ever visited when he first came to Denver and as he looks up at Josh, this one smiles a bit at him and laughs at how confused he looks.

“You said you were a photographer, right?”

“I am. But I guess the business is going pretty well.”

“Yeah, no shit, man, this place is huge.” Tyler says, sweeping the room with his eyes. A few pictures with nice frames are hanged up on the walls and he can’t help but admiring Josh’s work. “These are your pictures, right?”

“Yeah. Mostly. Some of them are from a few friends of mine.”

“They’re all so beautiful.” Tyler says, and smiles at Josh when this one walks closer to him to give him one of his own pajamas as well as a new toothbrush and towel.

“Thanks. Here, make yourself at home. The bathroom is right there.” He says, pointing at the door on his left. “You can take a shower, and there’s a bathtub too, you can use it but I’m guessing you’re too exhausted. You can go straight to bed if you want, I have a guest bedroom next to mine.” He adds, opening the door to reveal a large bedroom with a king size bed right in the middle.

“Thank you so much. For this, and for everything. You’ve been so kind and I feel awful for keeping you awake until 4am. I ruined your night out and now it’s so late and you’re going to be so tired tomorrow.’

‘Tyler, you’re fine. I’m a free-lance photographer now, I don’t really have a real schedule anyway. I wasn’t even planning on doing anything tomorrow, it’s all good.” He answers. “Okay, I’m off to bed. If you need any help with anything, let me know. Also, if you’re hungry, feel free to open the cupboards and eat anyth-”

Tyler doesn’t really realize what he’s doing until he can feel warm lips against his. He’s kissing Josh and just when he has the presence of mind to take a small step back, Josh puts his two hands behind his neck and bring him closer, deepening the kiss with a smile. It’s only when Tyler’s hand wander under Josh’s tee shirt and when this one gently pushes him away that he’s hit with the realization that he’s currently kissing a guy he didn’t even know ten hours ago.

“Oh my god.” He says, taking a step back. “I’m sorry, I swear I’m not usually trying to hook up with strangers, I- I’m tired, and you’re – well – super attractive but I don’t know what I was thinking, I’m pretty sure I’m still being delusional right now I’m sor-”

“You’re fine.” Josh repeats, running his right hand through his hair, smiling. “Was it just a way to prove your roommate wrong again?”

“Yeah.” Tyler says, smiling a bit. “Let’s say it was.”

“Well you should try it again, sometimes. Spontaneity looks good on you.”

“Josh, I literally ended up in the hospital. Trust me, I’m better off without this spontaneity thing.”

“Fair enough.” Josh says, laughing. “See you tomorrow, Tyler. Oh, and there is a charger in the room if you want to warn your friend.”

_Shit. Brendon._

“Fuck. You’re right. Thank you. He’s going to kill me.” He says, closing the door behind him, not before wishing Josh a good night.

Just as what he expected by turning on his phone, this one keeps vibrating for at least thirty seconds.

_17 missed calls. 3 voice messages. 9 new messages._ All coming from Brendon.

“ _Okay I got it. You can be spontaneous. You win. Now, come back.”_

“ _Dude, just come back.”_

“ _Tyler, where are you?”_

“ _Come back, dude, and answer my fucking calls for christ’s sake.”_

“ _Tyler, where the FUCK are you?”_

“ _ANSWER YOUR FUCKING PHONE.”_

“ _I’m going to kill you.”_

“ _I’ve been driving around for half an hour and I can’t find you. I’m sorry for getting mad at you earlier, I was being stupid. I should’ve listened to you, I’m sorry.”_

“ _Just tell me you’re okay.”_

A small smile stretches Tyler’s lips when his eyes fall on the last two messages. He starts to type a reassuring message but delete everything after a few seconds and call his best-friend instead.

“Oh my god, Tyler, are you okay? I’ve been worried sick, where the fuck ar-” Brendon instantly picks up.

“I’m fine, Bren, I’m sorry, my phone was dead.”

“What happened? And don’t tell me you went hiking.”

“I did.” Tyler says, letting out a small laugh. “Stupid idea, I know, especially with this pair of shoes. I walked during one hour but my feet hurt so much and I couldn’t see anything around me so I fell. I hurt my leg and my foot got stuck. I couldn’t move.”

“Where are you now? And you should have fucking called me, dude.”

“I did! I called but you didn’t answer and the network was crap I guess. Then my phone died so I was stuck. But a guy saw me and he took me to the hospital. I kind of broke my leg so now I need to wear a plaster cast for one month and a half. Then, he took me back to his place because it was a lot closer to the hospital. I nearly hooked up with him but now I’m fine, don’t worr”

“Wait what?”

“I’m fine, dude.”

“No, wait, what do you mean you nearly hooked up with him?!”

“I don’t know man, I was tired and horny for some reasons and he was there in front of me, and he’s like super attractive so I kissed him.”

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

“Tyler, are you-”

“I know! I know I’m sorry, I just… I didn’t really think.”

“I’m so proud of you!”

“Wait, you are?”

“Of course I am, dude. You nearly hooked up with a stranger!” Brendon exclaims with a loud voice, making Tyler laugh for a few seconds. “Wait, we can trust the guy, right?”

“We can. He’s called Josh. He’s a famous photographer and dude you should see his apartment, it’s insane.”

“So you’re okay, yeah?”

“I am. Sorry for worrying you.” Tyler says, lowering his eyes to the ground.

“No I acted like a complete dipcrap and I’m sorry. Are you gonna be okay or do you need me to pick you up?”

“Brendon, I have your car.”

“True.” He says. “Well, goodnight Ty guy.” He adds. “I can’t believe you nearly lost your virginity, tonight, oh my god.” He jokes. “I’m such a proud dad.”

“Oh, shut up.” Tyler answers. “Anyway, you’ll see him tomorrow, maybe, he’s probably going to drive me back home. Goodnight, Brendon.”

“Goodnight, Tyguy.”

Tyler hangs up and opens his 2020 resolutions on his phone, typing one last thing he needs to remember.

_Being more spontaneous_

**Author's Note:**

> So just as [olgushka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/olgushka/pseuds/olgushka) did yesterday, I also wrote a story about a prompt she sent me a while ago. It was: A gets stuck on a hiking trail after injuring his leg. It's getting dark and he panics because, well, he's scared of darkness and he's there completely alone. B finds him in the middle of a panic attack, calms him down and helps him come down."
> 
> You should totally read her story (One Broken Heart For Sale) cause she's such a good writer and an even better friend. Love you, dude. 
> 
> [I gift it to my sister cause I haven't been writing anything for months and she's sick of it]


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